Digital Leadership, Digital Competence, Work Motivation, Digital Culture, and Employee Performance in Indonesian Local Government: Self-Efficacy as a Mediating Variable

Background: Digital transformation in local government obliges employees to adjust to continually evolving information systems. At the Regional Secretariat of Tangerang Regency, the rollout of the Regional Government Information System (SIPD) sets the context for examining the organizational and psychological factors linked to employee performance. Objective: This study investigates how Digital Leadership affects Employee Performance via the mediating role of Self-Efficacy, while also testing the direct effects of Digital Competence, Work Motivation, and Digital Culture on Employee Performance. Methods: A quantitative approach combining descriptive and verificative methods was used, with primary data obtained from an online questionnaire administered to all 206 employees of the Regional Secretariat of Tangerang Regency through a saturated sampling technique. The data were analyzed with Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Results: The reported PLS-SEM estimates indicate positive relationships between the four predictors and Employee Performance, together with a positive indirect relationship between Digital Leadership and Employee Performance through Self-Efficacy. The coefficient for Digital Competence is very small (β = 0.004). Interpretation stays cautious, since the measurement and structural results contain reporting inconsistencies. Conclusion: The findings imply that digital leadership and employee self-efficacy matter for performance in this setting. The cross-sectional design and the limitations in the reported model diagnostics constrain any causal interpretation.